By Erin BehanDecember 3, 2011Sliders are a hit with small, discriminating palettes at Moo BurgerPhotos by Joshua Kristal

With a name like Moo Burger, one half expects to see cartoon cows peering out from behind stacks of hay. Instead, the interior of this Cobble Hill burger joint is coolly sophisticated—think New York loft meets upstate renovated barn.

Given the sleek wooden tables and funky hanging lights, the open kitchen could certainly turning out much fancier fare, but what’s on the menu at Moo Burger are burgers—of a sort.

Bison with fried egg and mozzerella

The shtick behind Moo Burger is that you can order any type patty (bison, elk, ostrich, chicken, or even beef) with any specialty “burger.” But these go way beyond your typical egg-topped patty—though they do have a fried egg on the Hangover ($12).

There’s the Banh Mi burger ($11), a chicken patty topped with pickled daikon, carrot, onion, cilantro and a lemon aioli. It tastes neither like a banh mi (for that, pork would be in order) nor a burger, but it is a yummy sandwich, and the tangy lemon aioli goes a long way to pull the crunchy pickled toppings and the tender chicken patty together.

The banh mi is just one facet of the globetrotting menu. There’s the Nova Scotia ($12) with a patty plus smoked salmon, mustard crème fraiche and wilted spinach and the Huevos Rancheros ($13) with refried beans, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream and a fried egg. Perhaps most bizarre is the Surf and Turf ($14), a patty topped with shrimp, grilled pineapple and micro greens.

Those adventurous oddities aside, it’s the classics that tempt—like the Bacon Classic ($10), which I tried with a bison patty, served medium rare as ordered and topped with cheddar and Applewood smoked bacon. The bacon added a smoky and fatty element to the otherwise lean patty and did what burgers should do: filled us up in a satisfying meaty way.

Unfortunately that cannot be said about the crisp, nicely salted fries—regular ($3) or sweet potato ($3), served in a rather twee metal basket generously stuffed with paper to obscure the miniscule serving of fries. Likewise the zucchini fries ($4), while delicious as only veggies hot from the fryer can be, seemed skimpy.

And what of the simple, plain old All American burger, topped with lettuce, tomato, red onion and Moo sauce (chipotle blue cheese mayo)? It was by far the favorite, and at $8 is also a bargain in Cobble Hill (add $1 for cheese). The juicy organic beef patty, the soft bun, the expected toppings—all came together bite after bite.

For hot dog lovers, there are five options, each arriving two per order ($8) with toppings running from high-class on the Bird Dog (chicken dog, red onion jam, roasted red pepper, aged balsamic and baby arugula) to hot-dang with the Hott Dog (jalapeno and habanero peppers, spicy pickle and spicy aioli).

There is a kids menu and judging from the crowd on a recent Sunday in which tables not populated with children were few and far between, it will be put to good use. On it, chicken fingers, two sliders, a hot dog or grilled cheese can be had with fries for $6. There are also milkshakes ($4-$5).

Sliders for kids

At night, the kids disappear and the adults come out to play, enjoying the dim lighting, beer and wine menu and more boisterous atmosphere. This is good if you like dining with adults, but as the pace quickens, the rather green waitstaff can have a hard time keeping up.

Moo Burger comes from a chef with some name recognition. Chef Marc Anthony Robert Bynum appeared on Food Network’s “Chopped” in 2010. The Long Islander has worked at several high-end Long Island restaurants and owns M Bynum Creations.